Waler bracket



A. P. TERRY WALER BRACKET July 31, 1962 Filed Jan. 8, 1960 a T m n 3 1y 4. misu- United States Patent ()fiice 3,047,264 Patented July 31, 1952 3,047,264 WALER BRAQFET Allen P. Terry, 425 W. 17th South St, Salt Lake City, Utah Filed Jan. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 1,364 6 Claims. (Cl. 248-2tl5) This invention relates to construction equipment and more particularly to a waler bracket.

Waler brackets are quite common in the construction trade, and their purposes and uses are indispensable in concrete work. Unfortunately, currently available waler brackets have numerous disadvantages from the cost standpoint to actual use. Some of them are clumsy and quite difficult to use. Others are completely unsatisfactory from the standpoint of safety. Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a new and useful waler bracket which is very simple in construction and which can be installed and removed with what is thought to be an absolute minimum of difficulty. In fact, a carpenter or cement man, in installing the waler bracket in accordance with the invention, needs merely to drive the head of the tie rod up against the bevel in order to quickly and effectively have a tight installation.

Tie rods ordinarily extend through the forms inconcrete work. These have heads at th ends thereof, for instance a head and a nut. The waler bracket in accordance with the invention is made of an approximately U-shaped body with a bearing plate Welded to the body. The surface of the body is designed to rest against a part of the form, regardless of the type of form, i.e., plyboard,

sheathing, panels, etc., leaving exposed the bearing plate and a pair of spaced wedges between which the tie rod extends. The bearing plate provides a very stable bearing surface for the waler along one edge thereof, while the other edge bears against the form. By tapping head of the tie rod upward, the head wedges against the Wedge .members so that the tie rod functions as not only a support for the waler but also as a locking device which cocoperates with the wedges of the waler. Removal is achieved in an equally simple manner. The tie rod head is tapped downwardly thereby separating the head of the tie rod from the wedges.

As indicated previously there have been many proposals for unique waler brackets. Furthermore, waler brackets are in common use at this time. The waler bracket of the invention is thought to provide a very distinct improvement over prior proposals which may or may not have been actually reduced to practice and waler brackets which are commercially available. These improvements are functional in nature, made possible by a novel arrangement of the parts of the waler bracket which are structurally interconnected.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a part of a concrete form showing a typical installation of a waler bracket and waler.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the waler and concrete form, showing a pair of waler brackets and a single tie rod in elevation,

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the waler bracket.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the waler bracket.

FIGURE 5 is an elevational view of the waler bracket.

FIGURE 6 is a top view of the waler bracket.

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view showing a modification of the waler bracket.

In the accompanying drawing forms 10 and 12 are shown on opposite sides of a concrete panel 14 which is assumed to have been freshly poured. The forms 10 and 12 may be of any usual type such as plyboard, sheathing, two or four inch (thickness) lumber, metal, etc. Walers 16 and 18 are conventional, and their position alongside of the forms is also a common practice. The tie rod 20 diagrammatically represents any kind of conventional tie rod having heads 22 and 24 at the ends thereof. Customarily the tie rod extends through forms 12 and 10 and at right angles to the planes of forms 10 and-12.

Waler bracket 26 exemplifies the invention. The waler bracket is used in pairs (FIGURE 2) and supports walers l6 and 18 on the faces of the form panels. structurally, waler bracket 26 is made of a substantially U-shaped body 28 having sides 30 and 32 joined together at their inner ends by means of a flat connecting member 34- having bearing end face 34. The waler bracket body 28 is made of metal, as is bearing plate 36. Sides 3t and 32 are angled toward each other as they approach bearing plate 36. Further, they extend through a slot 40 in bearing plate 36, this slot being essentially rectangular and opening through the lower edge 42. of bearing plate 36. They are welded in place, for instance by welding on both surfaces of bearing plate 36.

Bearing plate 36 is a flat rectangular panel, but it is made sufliciently long so that there is a portion 37 thereof which projects upwardly from the plane containing the upper edges of the essentially U-shaped body of the waler bracket. Parallel flanges 45 (FIGURE 7) may be formed at the edges of bearing plate 36 for strength of construction. The upstanding portion or part 37 has one or more apertures 39 to receive a nail or like fasteners. As shown in FIGURE 2 the upstanding part 37 of the bearing plate 36 cooperates with the adjacent surface of form 12 and the upper edges of the body 28 of the waler bracket to form a pocket within which to receive the waler 16. After reception of the waler, it is held firmly in place by using a nail in opening 39 and penetrating the waler.

Slot 54 is formed in connecting member 34 so that the tie rod 20 may pass therethrough. The tie rod i sufiicently long to pass through slot 40 thereby positioning the head thereof on the exterior of bearing plate 36. There are means forming Wedges 56 and 58 protruding from a face of bearing plate 36. The wedges are formed by having beveled outer edges of the sides 30 and 32 of the body 28 protrude from the surface of bearing member 36.

In use, the Waler bracket, one for each side of the form members 12 and 10, is positioned with the headed end of the tie rod 20 protruding through the aligned lots 54 and 40. It is evident that a few hammer blows exerted in a down direction will cause the head '22 of the tie rod 20 to bind against wedges 56 and 58. This has a reaction force generated in a direction to pull the waler bracket member 3 tightly against the outer surface of one of the form panels and also support the waler bracket. To remove the waler bracket, the reverse procedure takes place.

One of the important features of the invention is that the waler bracket may be used in any position, although walers 16 and 18 are shown horizontal. The identical waler brackets may be used for vertical support of walers or the like or for support of walers or other reinforcing membes at an angle.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A waler bracket comprising an elongated, horizontally disposed body having a bearing end face at one end thereof adapted to abut the outer surface of a form panel, said body including a longitudinally extending upper surface disposed in right angle relationship with said bearing end face and adapted to abut and support the undersurface of a Waler, a bearing plate integral with said body, said bearing plate having at least a portion thereof disposed above said upper surface and provided with an inner surface disposed in a plane spaced from and paralleling the plane in which said bearing end face is disposed, elongate passage means formed longitudinally through said body and adapted to receive a tie rod projecting outwardly at substantially a right angle relationship from said form panel, integral wedge means fixedly disposed with respect to the end of said body remote from said bearing end face, projecting outwardly therefrom and extending along opposite sides of and disposed adjacent said passage means, said wedge means constituting means by which to engage the head of a tie rod disposed through and outwardly of said passage means and urge the body and the waler supported thereby into bearing engagement with said form panel, said upper and inner surfaces being disposed at right angles to each other and being fixedly disposed to form with the outer surface of said form panel an upwardly opening pocket substantially rectangular in cross-section for tightly receiving a waler, and wherein said body comprises a substantially U-shaped member including a pair of spaced legs interconnected at one end by a connecting member whose outer surface comprises said bearing end face, said bearing plate being rigidly secured between said legs remote from said bearing end face plate.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said passage means includes aligned openings formed in said connecting member and said bearing plate defining a passage extending longitudinally of said body between said legs.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said legs and connecting member are formed of one-piece and said legs are convergent in a direction away from said connecting member and terminate in substantially parallel wedges which project through said passage means and beyond said bearing plate.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said portion of said bearing plate includes an aperture disposed above said upper surface for receiving a fastener for securing a waler in said recess.

5. The combination of claim 3 wherein the upper surface of said connecting member and legs define said upper surface.

6. A waler bracket for directly abutting and securing, with a headed tie rod, a planar form panel for concrete construction said waler bracket including, in combination, an integral body having a bearing end face at one end thereof adapted to abut said planar form panel and spaced, open ended, tie rod admitting wedge means fixedly disposed at the remaining end thereof, said body being provided with a tie rod admittance aperture communicating through said bearing end face thereof, said body being provided with a tie rod passageway extending between said aperture and the spacing between said wedge means; and a bearing plate upstanding from said body, spaced from said bearing end face, and forming with said body and said form panel a bearing seat for a waler directly bearing upon said form panel, the spacing between said wedge means being sufiicient to admit a tie rod therethrough and to enable the frictional, wedged retention of the headed end thereof by said Wedge means.

References ited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,841,713 Colt Jan. 19, 1932 2,632,228 Huntington Mar. 24, 1953 2,689,101 Dygert Sept. 14, 1954 2,882,583 rrighini Apr. 21, 1959 2,967,689 Jahn Jan. 10, 1961 

